


SOMNUM EXTERRERI

by LycanTrin



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Body Horror, Demonic Possession, Demons, First Person, Gen, Grimdark, Harm to Animals, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Hiding, Horror, Latin, London, Maggots, Nightmares, POV First Person, Urination, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:08:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29904342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LycanTrin/pseuds/LycanTrin
Summary: Arthur seems to be having trouble sleeping tonight. Not only does he keep having terrible nightmares, but each time he falls asleep, his vision in whatever being he seems to be trapped in seems to be getting... closer... Everything is just superstition and night terrors... Until he see's something that alerts him that this thing... this creature... It's far too close for comfort.
Kudos: 1





	SOMNUM EXTERRERI

_Tired… I’m so tired…_  
I was used to it at this point. I had always stayed up at night reading through the books in my library. Novellas were a few hours, and novels themselves were just a bit longer. Whilst other people found themselves lulled into a sleep with the repetitive action of scanning text on a page, I often found my mind getting lost within their worlds. I enjoyed almost each page as my rather dull life passed by day after day. Once you’ve seen everything, you’ll basically find yourself grasping for straws for any kind of excitement.  
_01:00. It’s so late, and yet so early... I’m completely knackered..._  
I put my finished novel down, a heavy yawn escaped my throat as I reached my arms up into the air, the sound of my shoulder blades crackled behind me. Despite my relatively young appearance, my body ached as I stood from my sofa chair, my back popped as I leaned back to stretch out once again.  
My loafers padded the hardwood floor as I began to stumble to my bedroom, my hands moved up to work at unbuttoning my shirt as I finally eyed the solace that was my well-made bed.  
“Hello, my love,” I said to the silence, my shirt tossed off and let the stale, cold air ripple across my skin, “I’m sorry this took so long. The last book had me simply captivated.” My hands reached down, undoing my belt before my fingers tugged off my trousers. I toed my shoes off, sliding my heel out before I kicked them into my open closet, a sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I was finally comfortable enough to rest. I lifted the blankets and slid beneath the comfort of my quilt as my eyes couldn’t bear staying open any longer. _Finally. Finally I can catch a bit of slumber tonight…_

_In a forest, my gaze towered just below the tree’s canopies. Each step felt heavy, as if my feet were being weighed down by an unrelenting force. I’ve had these dreams before, actually. Anytime I’ve stayed up late enough to pass out on instant impact with my mattress, I’d find myself in this tall, slow body. The past few times I’ve had these dreams, it’s always been in different locations. Swamps and icy tundras, at one point I think I was walking along the bottom of the ocean. But now, I was in this forest, and as my eyes glanced around the scenery, I couldn’t help but get such a strange feeling. Why is this place so familiar?  
There’s a path nearby, but I don’t seem to be taking it. My head loomed down, and amidst the tall, unkempt grass, a rabbit anxiously raised its ears from its slumber. As I approached, its head peaked up, looking up at me with round, dark eyes. The closer I got, the more its nose twitched, its breath hitching quickly before the rabbit made off in a quick sprint. I seemed to follow behind it, and despite my slow, heavy steps that crunched into the grass, I seemed to know exactly where the rabbit was heading. I approached a tree, the rabbit cornered itself against the gnarled roots as I grew closer and closer.  
As my gaze moved down lower, I could see my leg slowly moving out, my foot being replaced by a dark, matted hoof. The rabbit’s legs were shaking violently, as if it were trying to move, but its feet were stuck to the Earth. My hoof rose up higher, higher, higher, my knee meeting my chest, until…_

I woke up to the sickening crunch that had followed in my mind, my body shot up as my heart beat heavily in my chest. I was sweating profusely, my body glistened in the dim lighting as I felt myself gasp for air. I had leaned back slowly, my back bounced back to the bed, my wet skin slightly stuck to the sheets as I stared up at the ceiling. That… That was new...  
As I listened to the rhythmic drum of my heart in my ears, my eyes had begun to flutter themselves shut. As much as I wanted to fight falling back asleep, I unfortunately felt my body grow lighter and lighter as my senses began to shut down, my body had gone numb as I once again found myself back into the forest…

_I was much deeper in, my towering frame approaching something in the distance. It almost looked like an overturned wheelbarrow from afar, but with each step closer, the slanted wood had actually revealed itself to be a set of double doors that were chained shut. It was when my hand reached out to the chains that I realized, that wasn’t my arm. It wasn’t my hand, it wasn’t even my body. I was looking through the eyes of… something.  
It grabbed the rusted chains in its leathery hand, its other palm moving to grip the other side of metal links. In an effortless tug, the creature grunted and watched as the mossy, rust-colored chains crumbled to pieces, the metal links clinking with each other on impact with the ground and shut entrance. With long, dark fingers, it gripped the wooden doors and flung them open, the sudden slam of the wood against cobblestone causing an echo down into the dark entrance.  
A dark staircase led down into the ground, and with heavy steps, the hooved being stepped down each stone stair with heavy, hard footsteps. Each step clopped slowly, and despite the pitch black darkness of the cobblestone corridor, I could still see just fine, as if the tunnel were actually well lit.  
Where am I? Where is it? What is it?  
There were no doors. There were no lights or torches. Just a long hallway, which sometimes split into forked paths. Its breathing echoed against the stagnant walls, its wet breath followed every now and then by the drip of saliva that ran down its chin.  
“Ubi… Es… Corporis… Mortem...” The hooved creature spoke, its voice a low, guttural growl as it made its way farther down the winding passageways. It seemed to walk for what seemed like hours, before reaching a dead end. Standing at the end of a blocked off hallway, its massive hand reached out and felt the stone bricks, its claws scraping dully against the rock as his grip slowly tightened around the cemented boulder.  
Its brawn muscles were trembling from the amount of force he was wielding up, and soon enough, the boulder in its grip began to slide out, pulling from its place almost perfectly, like a long cork being pulled from the neck of a bottle of wine. As the stone finally left the wall, a dim room could barely be seen through the now empty hole. It was…_

With a gasp, my eyes shot open. That couldn’t have been… No, it definitely was. I swung my legs out of bed, my feet shuffled across the hardwood floor as I made my way out of my room and down the hall. The darkness unnerved me, and it didn’t help that the door I had approached made my hands tremble and shake like wild. The basement door, it stood at the end of the hallway, and even then, it was much closer to my bedroom than it had felt any other day.  
With a swift movement, I stretched my body to the top of the doorframe and grabbed the small metal key that rested atop the extra wood. To the bronze knob I moved it, shakily the key clinked and scratched against the knob as I eventually put it into the keyhole and locked both the handle and the deadbolt. Was it superstition? The need for some kind of extra safety? I knew what I had seen, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I fell asleep again, I just might have to deal with whatever waited for me at the bottom of those stairs in the “closet” no one knew I had.  
“It’s going to be alright. I can just pull an all-nighter. Is Alfred awake? Maybe I could dial him.” I said, my voice just a hushed whisper as I shuffled back to my room. I made it an effort to turn on any lightswitch I passed, the sudden brightness had stung my vision as I made my way back to the room and grabbed my cell phone. I flicked through my contacts, my eyes paused on my brother’s. Was this even a good idea? With a heavy sigh, I took in a breath and clicked my thumb on the call button. It was 3:00 am, in Alfred’s time zone that was… blast, what was it? Soon enough, his obnoxious voice rang from my phone, despite me not being on speaker.

“Yo, Arthurrr! What’s happening, dude? What are you doing up so late? Isn’t it, like, hella late for you over there in London?” That American accent. It was much a contrast to my English tongue, but living in such different places did have its effects on speech.  
“Yes. It is late. I’m going to try and attempt staying awake for the remainder of the night. Do you have any tips?” I couldn’t tell him that I was afraid of a nightmare. He was younger than I was, and very much known for making fun of me at any chance he could find.  
“Well,” He piped up, and while I couldn’t see his face, I could hear in his tone how wide his smile was, “you could make yourself some coffee! Not tea though, it’ll make you sleepier! And no reading! Turn on a T.V. and watch something exhilarating! I’d suggest horror or action or-”  
“No horror. Not tonight…” I cut in, a grunt attempted to clear my throat, “Say. If you can, try and see if you can come over soon. I’d really like to see you again. You are my little brother, afterall…”  
“Ex-Brother. You know I still haven’t forgiven you over our last fight.” He huffed. What a selfish twat. That fight was years ago, and even after all of the apologies and attempts to reconcile, he still refused to refer to me as his brother? Pathetic…

_Almost like a movie being rewound and unpaused, the memory of the fight flickered through my mind. It was quite a few years ago, when Alfred had still lived with me. He hated how strict my flat rules were becoming, but in my own blind selfishness, I had forbade it and grounded him on the spot. I didn’t want him to disobey me. I didn’t want him to leave me.  
“You can’t just ground me for wanting to move out” Alfred’s younger voice repeated in my head,” I need my own space! I feel claustrophobic with all of these harsh rules and constant scoldings!” his whine had echoed in my head, only to be followed by the sickening bark of my own.  
“You can’t possibly take care of yourself. Without me, you’ll die. You’re nothing without me! I’m your older brother and what I say goes!” I yelled back, my fist slamming down into the countertop, causing the much younger boy to flinch from the sound.  
“I… I have no older brother...” His voice, it was so shaky, so frail sounding. I could tell he was terrified of what my next response would be, and that was rightly so. In my anger, I had thrown a cup across my kitchen, the glass shattering against the wall and causing him to run to his room to lock his door. After that night… It must have been when I was asleep… he left. Made his way to America all by himself, where he ended up actually being able to take incredible care of himself. He’d only visited me a handful of times after that event, as he much prefers to text or call me instead. And I can’t blame him for that..._

His voice had called my name out. I suppose I had disappeared into my own mind as I thought quietly about awful times that should have just been left to the past.  
“Whatever… Just… Please. I need to see you again. I want to talk to you about some important things before-” I cut myself off. What had I planned to say? Before it was too late? Before I end up dead or missing? It was foolish. As I coughed into my tightly balled fist, I shakily parted my lips and continued “-before I end up forgetting what I want to tell you. You know how forgetful I can be sometimes…”  
His voice let out an exasperated sigh, “Alriiight, whatever, man. I’ll see when the soonest I can get to you is. I’ll see you whenever, Artie! Later!”

With a click, the call ended, and my body felt heavier than ever before. My body wanted to sink into my bed’s comforts and return to the realm of dreams. I forced myself away from the mattress and drearily made my way to the kitchen. Each step down the long hallway had my thoughts racing. When Alfred was around, the home felt so much smaller than it really was. It was cozier, even. When my brother had left, and his items that he left behind had been moved to the basement… My home felt so much emptier, and my cozy little flat had now felt like a vast, empty manor that had succumbed to silence every single day. The thoughts of the old arguments, the imagery of his terrified little face.. I had nearly forgotten why I was even heading to the kitchen in the first place.  
My hands opened the kitchen cabinets with a slow creak, and as I dug through the different tea boxes, I let out a sigh when I had found packets of instant coffee. I never drank the stuff, but I kept some handy in case guests of mine preferred it over tea. I kept it in case _Alfred_ came over.  
After I had grabbed the metal kettle from my cupboards, I filled it with water before putting it on the stove, hearing the flames flicker on quickly beneath the metal as I headed to the living room. I grabbed the telly’s clicker and found myself turning the screen on to some old reruns of Dr. Who. The episode in question was one I remembered quite well: “Blink.” 

“...The damage they could do could switch off the sun. You have got to send it back to me.” The actor’s familiar voice said, filling the once droned-out silence of the house. I stared at the screen with a bit of a wince, the bright light burned my eyes greater than any of the light bulbs in my home could ever do.  
“How? How?!” The actress replied, her voice in a growing panic as she looked at the screen in front of her. With each second passed, my eyes felt bloodshot from just looking at the screen. It was so late, and my body… It was so tired.  
“And that’s it, I’m afraid. There’s no more from you on the transcript. That’s the last I’ve got. I don’t know what stopped you from talking, but I can guess.” I drudged over to the sofa, my body limply sat down as I watched with itchy, irritated eyes. Every blink felt heavier than the last, and the scene before me, despite the suspense, had only buzzed on in my head as I felt as my mind wandered. It was desperate for sleep..  
“They’re coming. The Angels are coming for you, but listen. Your life could depend on this: don’t blink. Don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead. They’re fast, faster than you could believe. Don’t turn your back, don’t look away, and don’t _**blink.”**_

Just before my body could give in and send my mind adrift, a loud squeal from the kettle shot a wave of energy through my body, my legs jolted out from my seat. I rushed to the kitchen and fixed myself a cuppa with the instant coffee packet that I had pulled from the box. As I mixed it into the boiled water, I let out a soft breath, blowing against the top of the mug a few times before I took in a slow sip. It ran down my throat, the flavor nearly had me gag. It was almost like I had guzzled hot powdery mud. What an atrocious taste, but if it meant never having that… _thing_ get any closer, then I had best finish the entire mug.  
Each sip of coffee was torture, and the T.V. stung my eyes with every slow second. How could other people do this so effortlessly? I let out a sigh, setting the mug aside and grabbed a book. I let the TV hum on in the background as I opened my new novel, my eyes tried their hardest to focus on the reading. After a few minutes, I noticed my hands had shook softly, and my vision began to blur.  
_No. Not now._  
I groaned and grabbed hold of my mug, chug after chug of the nasty liquid forced down my gullet before the mug slammed down. I needed something more. I headed back into the kitchen, opened another cabinet and reached inside, my hands wrapped around the neck a bottle of whiskey. It popped open quickly, I took a few heavy gulps before the thick bottle dropped from my hands, harsh coughs escaped my maw as I could feel the harsh burn rush down my throat and into my stomach, the mix of different drinks collided in my gut like an all out war. I nearly wanted to vomit, but my body protested.  
Even after all of this, after these desperate attempts to stay awake, my body relentlessly tried to pull itself back to sleep. I went to the living room once more and stared at the grandfather clock that stood beside a tall bookcase. _03:38… Tired… I’m so tired…_ The book I picked up was practically incomprehensible, the words overlapping, doubled onto themselves as my eyes struggled to maintain its focus. My gaze became dimmer, and dimmer… and dimmer…

_In my… In its hand… It held the boulder from the last time I was asleep. Now that it had one out, it grabbed at another with an even greater ease. One by one, stone after stone, wet grunt after grunt, it tore itself into my hidden room.  
My occult room. The massive symbol on the ground was evident enough. I had made this room shortly after Alfred had moved away. I’ve always believed in the supernatural, and I’ll admit, I’ve stupidly tried to summon ghosts and monsters whenever I had gotten too angry at myself and at others. Nothing had ever worked in the past, but now I’m not too sure I can say that...  
Once It had enough room to fit its head through, the creature’s arms slowly reached into the wall, and like a rat squeezing through cracks it shouldn’t possibly be able to fit through, it pushed itself through slowly, until its massive palms hit the ground with a soft thud.  
It stood up and headed towards the door, its palm shoved against the opening and ducked down to fit through the entrance of the main basement. It effortlessly made its way past tall stacks of storage boxes and dusty furniture, its heavy hoof-steps slowly creaked up to the main door, the door that I had locked just some time ago. A hand reached for the handle, and upon twisting it off of its lever, I could feel at least a bit of relief… Its gaze slowly seemed to lean back, trailing up the door and to the ceiling. I almost had no clue what it was doing, until…  
Until its gaze swiftly turned back to the door, its face quickly met into the wood. _

My body leapt from the sofa as I heard the sound of broken wood. I watched in terror as from my seat, scattered into the living room's entrance, were the massive, chipped fragments of the basement door. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, and as I stood with a tremble, I dared not make a noise. My feet, almost as if against my own will, slowly began to approach the living room entrance, my teeth chattered inside of my mouth as each step made my heart thump louder, louder into my ear. My eyes shut tightly, and once I stood at the end of the hallway, the thick wood-chips of the door resting beneath my legs, I forced my eyes to open.

_And there it was._

It stood in front of the basement door, the top of its head towered the frame, but the tip of its horns nearly scraped against the ceiling. Its face was long, looking like the shredded melted facade of a goat, skin loosely draped over the skull like wallpaper peeling from a decrepit old buildings’ interior. Its torso was massive, covered in matted fur that made it look like it had been soaked in mud, causing the fur to dry clumped and jagged. It crawled with maggots and deep holes that bore into the creature's stomach and left breast. Even when there were no holes in his skin, even when the skin on it’s chest was bare and unblemished, beneath the skin, I could see the movement and wriggling of the thick insects underneath. And the smell… it was like meat that hadn’t been touched in months, the scent of mold and mildew attacked my senses as I looked up at the demon that stood at the other end of the long hallway. 

_“Corpus... tuum... da... mi ... ”_ It spoke. With glazed, unblinking eyes, it stared at me, its body hadn’t moved an inch as I let out soft, shaky whimpers. I could hear the drip of its drool as it stood, fists clenched as it made a sound similar to tight, leather gloves.  
“W-What? I’m s-sorry…” I whispered, shaking my head softly, “I… I don’t know what you want… Please don’t step any closer…”  
_“Give… Me… Your…_ _**Body…”**_  
I could feel there was warmth that trickled down the length of my legs, as I felt my body involuntarily release the contents of my bladder all over the hardwood, “N-No… I can’t…” I couldn’t move, my legs felt like they were bolted to the ground, but all of that soon changed when the creature, the _demon,_ opened its mouth.  
The noise… Oh God the noise... It sounded as if the entire planet, every person at once, was _screaming._ Its voice cracked every photo frame, the lights flickered rapidly as soon enough, every hung photo, every shelved book and unmounted item suddenly dropped to the floor with a loud crash.. My hands reached up and desperately clung to my ears as my legs buckled. I crouched shakily as to not fall to the ground, the unbearable noise was enough to have me shout out in pain. That's when it began to approach, its heavy hoofs knocked with each slow step, and its mouth flecked spit and maggots as it remained open in the never-ending scream.  
Turning quickly, I ran through my home to the front door, unlocking it before I swung it wide open with a loud slam. My legs carried me out as quickly as possible, each step hit the path in front of me as I cried out for help. No buildings around had their lights on, and no person was out on the street. The screams, the sound of hooves was getting louder, yet I heard no footsteps as I dared not turn around to see what may have lurked behind me.  
“Please! Anyone! Help me! Oh dear God! Help me!” I cried out, but even I couldn’t hear my own desperate wails as the sound of the creature’s unholy shrieks blared like sirens, both behind me yet all around me. Tears began to stream down my face as I made my way towards the center of town, my calls for help now choked sobs as my head violently jerked around. _Where the fuck is everybody?!_  
_“PLEASE! Anybody! Alfred! HELP ME!!!”_ No matter how far I ran into the town, no shop or store even seemed open. No matter how far I ran, I could hear the slow hoofsteps and devastating shrieks growing louder and louder around me. It was close behind, and yet, it was everywhere around me.  
_Finally,_ _**finally,**_ _a home had flicked its lights on._ I watched the silhouette of a woman behind her curtains. She ran down stairs, and as I ran to her front door, I pounded my fists against the shut entrance and cried out harshly as I could hear footsteps rapidly approach from the inside.  
“Please,” I choked, my sobs forced from my maw as my head looked down towards the ground, “Please, let me in! Let me in! Let me in, let me in, _LET ME IN!_ ” I bellowed out, feeling drool and snot dribble down my face as the screams grew louder and louder behind me. Once the door had finally opened, I felt myself stumble forward, my arms desperately swung to catch my balance. But as I felt myself fall forward, my eyes shut hard as I expected to hit the floor, but once my hands suddenly met something plush and springy… I opened my eyes.

I… was in my bedroom again. Looking around, my heart pounded. The screams. The hoof-steps. They had finally stopped, leaving me in dead silence. Was this all just… hallucination? Had I even left my home in the first place? I felt a shaky breath escape my mouth, the smell of whiskey assaulted my nostrils as I slowly stood from the bed. Perhaps… I had just had too much to drink. A soft sigh of relief escaped my mouth, but when I turned to leave the room, my eyes could see the broken photo frames and pieces of the basement door laying across the hallway. _It brought me back home._  
My heart throbbed in my chest, as I looked outside of my doorway. There was nobody here. I ran to the front door, looking outside into the darkness of the night against the town. There was still nobody out there either. I shut the door, my hands shakily locked every possible lock I could even touch before whatever that thing was could possibly even find me. I saw what it did to the basement door, but being able to stall it even just a little bit would help even just a little while.  
Making my way back to my bedroom, I shut the door and forced my thin frame beneath my bed frame, my face pushing against the cold wood I listened for any sign of movement. It seemed almost endless. The silence was like static to my ears and my body… It was so exhausted. My eyes slowly began to drift shut, but what terrified me was the fact that even just keeping them closed for even a second gave me a vision.

_The front of my house…_

No… No this couldn’t happen... I wasn’t even allowed to close my eyes?! No… I could still blink, right?

_My front door…_

I… I had to keep my eyes open. My body had been pushed past its limits, and my eyes stung from the stale, dusty air where I lay beneath the bed. My eyes fluttered shakily, as I fought myself to keep my vision open. After another unfortunate blink, my body jumped as the shards of my front door shot across the hallway, my body trembled from the sight of the doorknob rolling down the hall beneath the crack in my door. Another blink, the sound of hoofs trotting a step closer. I tried to hold my eyes open with my fingers, but they burned with an intensity that stung like needles. Two blinks escaped my face, followed by the sound of hoofs and the slow creak of my bedroom door opening. I could see his hoofs standing in my doorway.  
I held my breath, my irritated gaze focused on his hoofs, and without blinking, I watched him slowly enter my room. He walked to my closet and paused. He walked to my window and paused. He walked to the bed and paused. I brought a hand to my mouth, the palm covered over my lips and nose as I shut my eyes tightly. The darkness of not being able to see from this creature’s gaze was almost enough to have me sigh, as I heard its footsteps clop out of my room and head towards the basement. I could hear it’s heavy hooves creek down the stairs with descending volume.  
There I lay. It felt like hours, but the lighting of the room hadn’t changed. After what felt like an eternity of being hid beneath my bed, I slowly made my way out, shakily getting to my feet and walking to the doorframe. I looked to the basement entrance. There was nothing. I look down the long hall to the front door’s entrance. There was nothing. Finally, I let out a sigh of relief. I had finally rid myself of this creature. I shut the door as quietly as possible, turned on my heel to face my bed, and froze as I was met with glazed, unblinking eyes mere feet away from myself. _It had never left my room._

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to vomit. But I didn’t move. I _couldn’t_ move. The “it” reached an arm out, and as I gasped from its sudden movement, its clawed fingers prodded my lips, its long nails held my mouth open. Slowly, its hand entered my mouth, its moldy, rotten taste caused me to let out a harsh gag, as I could feel the larvae beneath its skin writhe and try to break free from its leathery flesh. As I felt it jab the back of my throat, I could feel the bile bubble up from my stomach and, unable to escape past my lips, it forced its way out of my nostrils, burning as if it were lava rushing against my senses. The burn caused my eyes to flood with thick, hot tears. Once its wrist passed my teeth, my lungs began to struggle, unable to breath as it soon began to force its arm into my mouth.  
My jaw felt like it was going to break, as my throat and cheeks ached from being stretched far past their limits. I wanted it to end. I wanted to _die. How was I not dead already?_ Its elbow made its way to my chin and I could feel its hand down where my stomach was, and it was only then where my vision had begun to blur. I was ready to accept it. Anything could have been better than another moment alive with this beast. My eyes fluttered shut, and as the hand moved lower into my body, my vision faded to black…

“Arthur…?” A voice... It was so familiar… 

“Arthur…? Arthur...!” My eyes fluttered open, my fuzzy vision soon focused on a face that was mere inches away from mine. I was in my bed, the feel of something greasy resting on my forehead disturbed my senses as I suddenly took in a gasp. One of my hands smacked the face in front of me, and that caused whoever had leaned in front of me to back up quickly. It… It was Alfred! As I sat up quickly, I felt the greasy object, a cheeseburger, falling down my face and breaking apart into my lap. It landed and stained my blankets with a wet thud.  
“Al...fred? Is that you?” I spoke, my voice incredibly hoarse. I coughed roughly into my fist, even the simple act of talking had stung the back of my throat as I looked into the American’s foolish but warm smile.  
“Uh, duhh man. I tried to ring you, but you never answered any of my calls! It’s been, like, 3 days, dude!” He put his hands on his hips, “I tried the ol’ cheeseburger trick, and now you’re awake! Man, you must have gotten shitfaced!” He cackled, his shoulder moved to lean against the wall near my door as he crossed his arms.  
“What… What do you mean?” I sputtered, only to start to cough again, my head pounded with a horrible migraine that had me wince with each pulsing ache.  
“I mean, when I got here, I found the entire house trashed! The pictures on your walls were all on the ground, the books weren’t in your fancy shelves, and when I found you, you smelled like piss and were covered in barf!” he said, the grin never left his face as he moved away from the wall.  
“And… My basement door?” I spoke much quieter now, soft grunts attempted to clear a lump in my throat that had made my voice much groggier than usual.  
“What do you mean?”  
“My basement door… It’s all… shattered and broken…”  
“What?” Alfred stepped to the open doorway and peeked down the hall before he turned back to me, “It’s literally fine.”  
A wave of relief had me almost melt into the bed, and I laid back with a deep sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness…”

With a simple nod, Alfred grabbed a nearby trash bucket and moved it close to my bedside. He seemed to have thought of everything. As he took off his coat, he let out a soft chuckle, another shit-eating grin spread across his face.  
“Looks like you got me to take care of you now, man!” He hummed, “Do you want me to make you anything? I bet you got quite the hangover if you had passed out for 3 days.” He hummed, the crack of his knuckles causing me to slightly wince as he began to head for the door before I could even respond, “Hell, I’ll even help clean the apartment for you, if that’s alright with you, of course.”  
“Yes… Yes of course… Thank you, Alfred.” I smiled weakly, my hands trembled together as I took another deep breath, “I need a cup of tea… But please, make it the way I like it, no awful iced tea, please.”  
“No promises!” He guffawed, his hand was going to shut the door, but before it was fully closed, Alfred simply let out a snort before he remarked, “Just holler if you need anything!”

Once the door had shut, I felt my neck, as the lump in my throat bothered me I desperately tried to clear it out of my system. It felt like a massive wad of phlegm stuck just at the back of my mouth. I grabbed the trash can beside me, and with a few harsh coughs, I could feel the slimy ball slide down my tongue before it passed through my lips and hit the bottom of the bin with a dull thud.  
Just as I was about to put the bin down, my eye caught something that made me pause… _maggots._ They writhed around the thick lump in the trash, and my heart began to pound in my ears. My eyes widened, and my body froze in complete and utter terror, because as I felt my heart beat, it felt like it was beating out of time and much too quickly to be normal. It was almost like I had _two_ heartbeats.


End file.
